Commissioner’s updates May 10 2025

Hello everyone,

It’s been a busy spring between having a nearly two year old daughter, attending various governmental policy meetings and having a nearlt two year old daughter.

I’m posting this up just before we leave on a short family (working) vacation to Palm Springs, CA on the Amtrak. We’re going in a sleeper car and will be back after just a few days, but I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a while. Mirela loves trains and I’m hoping she will be thrilled to be on the train for this trip (she’s done an Amtrak trip once before when she was an infant- before she knew of trains)

Since I last posted I held a Commissioners office hours meeting (well attended, lots of feedback about the proposed AEP electric substation at the edge of city limits), took a trip to the Texas Capitol, met with US CBP and Dept of Defense, and received updates on the International Bridge project from Senator Cesar Blanco and State Rep Eddie Morales. I also attended the most recent Presidio Municipal Development District meeting and received a budget update from the Presidio County Appraisal District.

The Presidio County budget process is beginning in late June/early July and I feel like it’s already here. County budget years run from October 1st through September 30th (as do cities in Texas) and every year we face more challenges to do more things the State legally requires us to do with less money in inflation adjusted dollars.

I’ll cover a few of the more pressing topics I’ve learned a few more things about now;

Last Thursday I attended a meeting in Marfa with US Custos and Border Protection, the Dept of Defense (U.S. Army), County Judge Jose Portillo, County Sheriff Danny Dominguez, City of Marfa Police Chief Gilberto Carrillo, Presidio County Commissioner Deirdre Hisler, and Jeff Davis County Judge Curtis Evans for an information session/update on the military deployment here in the Big Bend region. Marfa CBP head Omar Morales ran the meeting and his agency described the advantages they are receiving in having the support of the troops (authorized under Title 10- unable to make arrests, can provide logistical and other assistance) here in Presidio County. In his words CBP has been able to dramatically increase patrols in farther reaches of the County, especially along the Rio Grande in the Candelaria and Chispa Rd regions. He stated that a substantial “increase in situational awareness” has had a major positive impact in their mission.

As far as troops and where/how long they may be staying, the Major from the DOD (apologies, I did not write his name down) said that they now know that they will be deployed to our area for more than the initial six month period specified at the beginning of this process. That in itself sets the expectation that this mission could last for the duration of the current Presidential administration. With regard to renting or utilizing County properties such as the airports for staging, residential housing or base operations, it has been determined that at this point there are no plans to move forward with any construction, creation or development of infrastructure for the military. They plan on staying in the hotels (mostly in Alpine) that they are already in, and that looks to be the long-term plan at this point.

Lastly, it was explained to us that the majority of military vehicles they have and will be bringing in will be based and remain near and along the Rio Grande, as will the majority of troops. I appreciate the fact that we were asked to sit and receive this update; not much new, other than things appear to be very stable with regard to how the military is functioning now that they are here. I’m hoping for the best with all this; it was good to hear that our local Border Patrol leaders are saying that this is helping them in their work and making them safer in doing their work.

My trip to Austin to visit the Capitol was in conjunction with Texas Counties' Day at the Capitol, an event sponsored and hosted by the Texas Association of Counties. For the last six years or so I’ve been a member of the “Core Legislative Group” of Texas County officials within TAC. I attend weekly 7 AM meetings on Zoom (or in person when I’m in Austin) where we get updates and discuss legislation progressing through the session that affect County governance and business. Much of what we do is contact legislators to share knowledge of potential effects, good or bad, of proposed bills. On this trip I visited directly with the staff of both Senator Blanco’s office and Representative Morales’ office to share information and register support or opposition to various pieces of legislation.

My most pressing reason for being at the Capitol is of course the ongoing attempt to gain ownership (from the State) of our International Bridge at Presidio/Ojinaga. Thankfully I was able to talk to a lot of people about the progress we’ve made; hopefully it does some good. One thing that’s nice is I feel like I have made a few friends in and around the Capitol over the last decade since I began directly engaging in trying to affect State policies. I don’t have any power, but I do feel like my time is not wasted by making the effort.

There’s no new news on the proposed AI data center, other than it’s been discovered that the money the proposal is contingent upon won’t be awarded to the companies vying for it until late summer. The Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District has, thankfully, been able to add more wells for groundwater level monitoring since this project was announced; landowners have contacted them to give permission to add their wells to the database. That gives them the data they will need to protect well levels countywide if this project goes through. This is good news; it’s also good news that there’s a little bit of time to prepare before anything is determined to move forward or not.

Thanks for reading- we have Commissioners Court in Marfa this Wednesday at 10 AM. I’ll be attending from California via Zoom. There’s a lot in store this year including beginning on fixing the courthouse HVAC and electrical systems this summer.

Sincerely,

David